May 18, 2015

“Patent attorney argues PATENT Act still not the best approach to reform,” Legal Newsline, May 18, 2015

It’s being called the more “balanced” approach to patent reform, but one St. Louis-based patent attorney says the Senate-introduced PATENT Act still isn’t focused enough.

Bryan Wheelock, a principal at intellectual property law firm Harness IP & Pierce, said he doesn’t care for the legislation, the fourth patent reform bill introduced this Congress.

Even the name — Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act — bothers him, he said.

“Somehow this is supposed to protect talent and encourage entrepreneurship,” Wheelock said. “When, in fact, it makes it harder for people who own patents to enforce them.”

Wheelock, who has been a patent attorney for more than 30 years, spends most of his days preparing and filing patent applications, responding to rejections by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and drafting IP agreements.

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